Floor-tile.



FLoo APPLICATION FIL UG. 1911.

1,05%456,1 Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

CULUMBIA PLANDCIRAPN cu,.wA5HlN uuuuuuuu c.

WILLIAMH. GRUEBY, 0F sBOSTON,` `MA`SSACHUSETTS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.1

Application filed August 11, 1911A Serial No; 643,526.`

To LZZ 'whom it may concern: i

Be it knownthat I, WILLIAM II. Gauner, a citizen of the United States,1residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk andState of Massachusetts,have invented new and useful` Improvements* in i Floorffiles, of which the follovvin lis aspeciiication.`

My inventionre atesto ornamentali tiles intended for use `in1laying0ors in situations `Where the useful qualities possessed byioors i of stone, marble, ordinary tiling `and the like i are desirable.

Such floors asheretofore constructedrhave been found objectionable for the reason that when `Wet they :become slippery,especially after having beenwvorni by `longcontinued,

use, and my inventionis inten d to ,prot vide a highly ornamental floor `tile lmade of potteryl material anda having, g in addition to s the useful qualities` usually `possessed by` floor tiles, `a non-slipping tread s surface.

With this object in view Ihave produced: ai

novel tile characterizedby the provision of its `top surface With `unglazed ,raised` `portions alternatingvvith glazed depressed `pori tions, the unglazed raised portions being of such limited extent, as compared with the human foot, that when `a floor is laid with the tiles the foot of a person: walking lupon the same Will` rest` upon an unglazed `surface and extend beyond the same. In other Words, `vvhile n,the unglazed raised `portions:

may be arranged to form any one of a prac ticallyj endless variety of patterns. and designs, their dimensions andl relative y loca` tions are such that the tread `surfacethereby` provided is discontinuous Within the iarea of the human footaso that instead of being1 supported by a continuous `and uniform sur face, Which maybe slippery even thoughat is the surface of van unglazed tile,1as experience has shown, the shoeof, a person step` ping uponlmytilefvvill be :subjected to the gripping action ofa hard and Well-defined y edge such as forms thevboundary line between each raised portion of the tile and the adjacent depressed portion thereof, and the person `will thus be preventedfrom slipping; upon a floor composedofsuchl atiles, Ieven: though the tilesber Wetfl Furthermore, `a

ioor thus constructed will not become Wet to the `same extent as afloor` havmg ,a continuous` and uniform; surface throughoutg because `the `depressed areas 1in my tile receive any WaterzWhich `mayl fall upon `it,;` leaving lthe raised iportions comparatlvely" dry, and, in additionvto its non-slipping quality I have `found thatsuch 1a floor is` much more `nearly noiseless `than are prior` floors :ofthecharacter above referred to, this beingdue to the fact that the areas of s those portions of my tile which come in con Y `in `the accompanying drawings, in `Which-I" Figure l isa top plan` view of the tile; and Fig.i2 is a transverse section;through` the same.`

In the drawings, 2 indicates the body of` the tile, Whichis a hard-fired tile made ofl potterylmaterial and having its top surface formed into an ornamental pattern by means of zthe raised portions 3, Which are unglazed, and the depressed portions 4:110- cated between the raisedportions 3 and covered `witl1 acoating of glaze 5, whereby a strongz contrast in appearance betweenthe portions` 3 and 4 is brought out and the or-` namentali quality of the tile is increased.` It will beiobserved that inthe particulartile illustrated, the raised portions Bihaveithe form of lrelatively `long1 and narrow ribs,` which cover the top of thetile to suchzan extent that it is impossible for a person `to step `on the tile Without having `his 1 foot supported Wholly by certain of said `raised portions and overlapping `the edgesof the same,but it is not at all necessary that said raised portions shall consist` of suchribs or that a rectangular patternshall be adopted, as the tile may be given any desired pattern so long` as thesabove-mentioned rei quirements 1n regar-dto the slze `and dlsi contlnultyof the unglazedportions are observed.

The glazing of theidepressed portions `4:

not onlyl imparts a highly ornamental api pearanceto the tile but also` results ln` vitrifyingthe raised portions of the tilerto 1 a greater or less extent, varying lWithl `the i degree of` heat :employed in firing the tile,

and the rvitrifcation of these raised portions greatly `increases `thelr` hardness, and coni sequently their `durability in use, Without` slipping qualities.` These raised portions in The foregoing references to thel glazing of certain portions of my tile are to be construed to include fenameling and kindred .processes whereby said portions may be proto the raised portions of the tile is to bey regarded as referring yto f' the absence of a glazed surface of the character just referred to but not as excludingla surface such as resultsfromvitricatiomthe distinction bef tweenglazed and vtrifedsurfaces and the 'various Ways in which such vsurfaces may be produced being Well understood in the art.

YI claim as, my invention Y f l. A; floortile coniprisingra body portion provided on its upper `face With a substanf tially level non-slippingtread surface `composedvof spaced portions of unglazed tile material arranged sufficiently near together Go'piesof this patentk may be obtained for ve cents each, by lad-dressing?. the n" Comn'issionerV o1! Patente-` WashingtomDrCJ- v to support the foot of a-personfsteppingon the tile, the portions of the tile located bei `tween said spaced portions being slightly depressed and covered with an ornamental glaze. v n

2. Afloor tile comprising a body portion provided on its upper face With a substan--. f

tially level non-slipping tread surface composed of spaced portions of unglazed tile material of vitreous character and arranged suflicientlynear together to supportthe foot of a person stepplng. on fthe, tile, the por'- f tions of the tile located between said spaced ered Withy anornamentalglaze.

In testimony Whereof,.z I have hereunto Witnesses: n

JOSEPH T. BRENNAN,4 MARYA. lSTYrIArr.l f

"35 `portions; being. slightly f depressed .and V*cov-V L 

